Re-engineering research, teaching and learning with digital technologies: how AAOU (Asian Association of Open Universities) members might collaborate for the benefit of teachers and learners in their societies
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Abstract
If universities are to be relevant In today’s digitally connected world, ways of working which may have been established centuries ago urgently need to be reviewed and new practices adopted. This is a challenge not just for Asian countries but for all countries. The OECD challenge to school-based educators to update ways of working in the following quote is just as relevant to university-based educators:
“In modern knowledge-based economies, where the demand for high-level skills will continue to grow substantially, the task in many countries is to transform traditional models of schooling, which have been effective at distinguishing those who are more academically talented from those who are less so, into customised learning systems that identify and develop the talents of all students.
This will require the creation of “knowledge-rich”, evidence-based education systems, in which school leaders and teachers act as a professional community with the authority to act, the necessary information to do so wisely, and the access to effective support systems to assist them in implementing change.” OECD 2009, p.13
This paper outlines examples of new and emerging practices from a range of disciplines and challenges academics and university managers to be proactive in adopting new ways of working so that the contribution of universities to the national good is clearly demonstrated. Those who are reactive and wait for change to be forced upon them run the risk of being found to be irrelevant by governments and by potential clients – research users, practitioners in every discipline and students. The focus of this paper is particularly on new opportunities for collaboration, for collaborative research and new forms of publishing and how new forms of accountability may be necessary to value and encourage collaboration. Questions are posed to facilitate the development of new ideas around the themes which are the focus of the AAOU conference.